Name

This
Surah takes its name from v. 9 in which the word (al-kahf)
occurs.

Period
of Revelation

This
is the first of those Surahs which were sent down in the third stage
of Prophethood at Makkah. We have already divided the life of the
Holy Prophet at Makkah into four stages in the Introduction to
Chapter VI. According to that division the third stage lasted from
the fifth to the tenth year of Prophethood. What distinguishes this
stage from the second and the fourth stages is this. During the
second stage the Quraish mainly resorted to ridiculing, scoffing,
threatening, tempting, raising objections and making false propaganda
against the Holy Prophet and his followers in order to suppress the
Islamic Movement. But during the third stage they employed the
weapons of persecution, man handling and economic pressure for the
same purpose. So much so that a large number of the Muslims had to
emigrate from Arabia to Habash, and those who remained behind were
besieged in Shi'ib Abi Talib along with the Holy Prophet and his
family. To add to their misery, a complete social and economic
boycott was applied against them. The only redeeming feature was that
there were two personalities, Abu Talib and Hadrat Khadijah, whose
personal influence had been conducive to the support of two great
families of the Quraish. However, when in the tenth year of
Prophethood these two persons died, the fourth stage began with such
revere persecutions as forced the Holy Prophet and all his Companions
to emigrate from Makkah.

It
appears from the theme of the Surah that it was revealed at the
beginning of the third stage when in spite of persecutions and
opposition, migration to Habash had not yet taken place. That is why
the story of "Ashab-i-Kahf"
(the Sleepers of the Cave) has been related to comfort and encourage
the persecuted Muslims and to show them how the righteous people have
been saving their Faith in the past.

Subject
and Topics

This
Surah was sent down in answer to the three questions which the
mushriksof Makkah, in consultation with the
people of the Book, had put to the Holy Prophet in order to test him.
These were: (1) Who were "the Sleepers of' the Cave"? (2)
What is the real story of Khidr? and (3) What do you know about
Zul-Qarnain? As these three questions and the stories involved
concerned the history of the Christians and the Jews, and were
unknown in Hijaz, a choice of these was made to test whether the Holy
Prophet possessed any source of the knowledge of the hidden and
unseen things. Allah, however, not only gave a complete answer to
their questions but also employed the three stories to the
disadvantage of the opponents of Islam in the conflict that was going
on at that time at Makkah between Islam and un-belief:

The
questioners were told that "the Sleepers of the Cave"
believed in the same doctrine of Tauhidwhich was being put forward in the
Quran and that their condition was similar to the condition of the
persecuted Muslims of Makkah. On the other hand, the persecutors of
the Sleepers of the Cave had behaved in the same way towards them as
the disbelievers of the Quraish were behaving towards the Muslims.
Besides this, the Muslims have been taught that even if a Believer
is persecuted by a cruel society, he should not bow down before
falsehood but emigrate from the place all alone, if need be, with
trust in God. Incidentally the disbelievers of Makkah were told that
the story of the Sleepers of the Cave was a clear proof of the creed
of the Hereafter, for this showed that Allah has the power to
resurrect anyone He wills even after a long sleep of death as He did
in case of the Sleepers of the Cave.

The
story of the Sleepers of the Cave has also been used to warn the
chiefs of Makkah who were persecuting the small newly formed Muslim
Community. At the same time, the Holy Prophet has been instructed
that he should in no case make a compromise with their persecutors
nor should he consider them to be more important than his poor
followers. On the other hand, those chiefs have been admonished that
they should not be puffed up with the transitory life of pleasure
they were then enjoying but should seek after those excellences
which are permanent and eternal.

The
story of Khidr and Moses has been related in such a way as to supply
the answer to the question of the disbelievers and to give comfort
to the Believers as well. The lesson contained in this story is this
"You should have full faith in the wisdom of what is happening
in the Divine Factory in accordance with the will of Allah. As the
reality is hidden from you, you are at a loss to understand the
wisdom of what is happening, and sometimes if it appears that things
are going against you, you cry out, 'How and why has this happened'.
The fact is that if the curtain be removed from the "unseen",
you would yourselves come to know that what is happening here is for
the best. Even if some times it appears that something is going
against you, you will see that in the end it also produces some good
results for you.

The
same is true of the story of Zul-Qarnain for it also admonishes the
questioners, as if to say, "0 you vain chiefs of Makkah you
should learn a lesson from Zul-Qarnain. Though he was a great ruler,
a great conqueror and the owner of great resources, yet he always
surrendered to his Creator, whereas you are rebelling against Him
even though you are insignificant chieftains in comparison with him.
Besides this, though Zul-Qarnain built one of the strongest walls
for protection, yet his real trust was in Allah and not in the
"wall". He believed that the wall could protect him
against his enemies as long as it was the will of Allah and that
there would be crack and holes in it, when it would be His will :
whereas you who possess only insignificant fortified abodes and
dwellings in comparison with him, consider yourselves to be
permanently safe and secure against all sorts of calamities."

While
the Quran turned the tables on the questioners who had tried to
"expose" the Holy Prophet, in the end of the Surah the same
things have been reiterated that were stated at its beginning:
"Tauhidand the Hereafter are absolutely true
and real and for your own good you should accept these doctrines,
mend your ways in accordance with them and live in this world with
this conviction that you are accountable to Allah: otherwise you
shall ruin your life and all your doings shall be set at naught."

In
the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

[1-4]
All praise is for Allah, Who has sent down this Book to His Servant,
and assigned nothing crooked to it.1
This Book says everything directly so that he may warn the people of
the severe chastisement of Allah and give good news to the Believers,
who do righteous deeds, that they will have an excellent recompense,
which they will always enjoy and that he should warn those people who
say, “Allah has begotten a son.”2

[5]
Neither had they any knowledge of this3
nor their forefathers; it is a monstrous word that comes out of their
mouths: they utter a sheer lie.

[6-8]
Well, O Muhammad, it may be that you will consume your life for their
sake out of sorrow, if they do not believe in this message.4
The fact is that whatsoever is on the earth, We have made it as its
adornment so that we may test the people as to which of them does
best deeds. In the end, We will turn all that is in it into a bare
plain.5

[9-12]
Do you consider “the Sleepers of the Cave,”6
and the bearers of the “Inscription”7
to be among Our strange Signs?8
When those few young men took refuge in the Cave, they said, "Our
Lord! have a special mercy on us from Thyself and guide us out of our
ordeal aright." Accordingly We lulled them to a deep sleep in
the Cave for a number of years. Then We raised them up in order to
test which of them were able to calculate correctly the period of
their stay there.

[13-16]
Now We tell you their real story.9
They were a few young men who believed in their Lords, and We
increased them in their guidance.10
We strengthened their hearts, when they rose up, and they declared,
“Our Lord is the One Who is the Lord of the heavens and the
earth. We will not invoke any other deity than Him. It will be the
most improper thing if we do so.” (Then they held mutual
consultations, saying,) “These people of ours have given up the
Lord of the universe and adopted other deities. Why do they not bring
forward any clear argument in support of their creed? Well, who can
be more wicked than the one who forges a lie against Allah? Now that
you have forsaken them and discarded the deities they worship besides
Allah, let us go to such and such a cave for refuge.11
Your Lord will extend to you His mercy, and order your affairs for
you for the best.”

[17-18]
If you had looked at them in the Cave,12
it would have appeared to you that when the sun rose, it left the
Cave to one side and inclined towards the right, and when it set, it
turned away from them and went to the left while they lay in the
spacious place inside the Cave.13
This was one of the Signs of Allah. Whomsoever Allah guides aright,
he is guided aright, and whomsoever Allah lets go astray, you will
find no guardian to direct him. If you had seen them, it would have
appeared to you as if they were awake, whereas in fact they were
asleep. We turned them about to the right and the left sides.14
And their dog was sitting at the entrance of the Cave with
outstretched forelegs. If you had looked at them, you would have
turned on your heels and their sight would have struck you with
terror.15

[19-21]
And in the same miraculous way We raised them up again16
so that they may ask one another (about their wonderful experience).
One of them asked, “Well, how long have you remained in this
condition?” The others answered, “May-be, we have
remained so for a day or a part of a day.” Then they declared,
“Your Lord knows best how long we have remained in this
condition. So let us send one of us with this silver coin to the
city, and he should look for a place wherein he can get the best food
so that he may bring something to eat. He should, however, conduct
himself with caution lest anyone should discover our whereabouts; for
if they succeed in over-powering us, they will surely stone us to
death or force us back into their Faith, and in that case we will
never be able to obtain true success.” In this way We revealed
their secret to the people of the city17
so that they should know that Allah's promise is true and that there
is no doubt about (the coming of) the Hour of Resurrection.18
(But it is a pity that instead of considering this aspect of the
matter) they were at that time disputing among themselves with regard
to them (the Sleepers of the Cave). Some of them said, “Let us
build a wall against them, for then Lord alone knows best about
them”19
But those people who prevailed in their matter,20
said, "We will build a place of worship as a memorial for them"21

[22-26]
Some people will say, “They were three and the fourth was their
dog,” and some others will say, “They were five and the
sixth was their dog.” These are mere irrelevant guesses. There
are still others who say, “They were seven and the eighth was
their dog.”22
Say, "My Lord alone knows best how many they were." "There
are a few people only who know their correct number: so you should
not enter into discussions with them about their number except in a
cursory way: nor ask anyone about them23
and never say about any matter, “I will do this tomorrow (for
you cannot do anything) except that Allah wills it.” If ever
you inadvertently utter anything like this, you should at once
remember your Lord and say, “I hope that my Lord will guide me24
in this matter with that thing which is nearest to the right way for
me”and some people say that they remained in their Cave for
three hundred years and some others add nine more years25
(to the reckoning of the period). O Prophet, say, “Allah knows
best about the period of their stay there, for He is fully aware of
all that is hidden in the heavens and the earth.” What an
excellent Seer and Hearer He is! There is no other guardian of the
creation in the heavens and the earth, and He does not associate
anyone with Himself in His authority.

[27-28]
O Prophet,26
recite (the very same) that has been revealed to you in the Book of
your Lord, for no one is authorized to make any change whatsoever in
the Word of your Lord and (if you will make any change to please any
one) you will find no place of refuge to protect you from Him.27
And keep yourself whole-heartedly content with those who pray to
their Lord morning and evening in order to win His approval, and do
not turn your attention away from them. Do you desire the allurements
of the world?28
Do not follow the one"29
whose heart We have made neglectful of Our remembrance and who
follows his own lust and goes to extremes in the conduct of his
affairs.30

[29-31]
Proclaim, “This is the Truth from your Lord: now whosoever
will, he may accept it and whosoever will, he may reject it.”31
(As for those who reject this,) We have prepared for such workers of
iniquity a fire whose flames have encircled them.32
If they will ask for water there, they will be treated with such a
drink as will have its residue like that of oil33
and burn their lips: what an evil drink and what an evil abode! As
regards those, who accept it and do righteous deeds, they should rest
assured that We do not let go waste the reward of such people: they
will have evergreen gardens with canals flowing beneath them: they
will be adorned with bracelets34
of gold and will wear green colored robes of silk and rich brocade
and will be reclining upon raised thrones.35
What an excellent reward and what an excellent abode!

[32-36]
O Muhammad, present a parable36
before them. There were two persons; to one of those We gave two
gardens of vine and surrounded them with a fence of date-palm trees
and We kept a piece of land between them for cultivation. Both of the
vine-yards yielded abundant fruit and did not fail anywise in
bringing forth their produce, and We caused a canal to flow in their
midst. And the owner of the gardens got much benefit. In spite of all
this, while conversing with his neighbor, he said, “I have more
of wealth than you and have mightier men at my service.” Then
he entered his “Paradise,”37
while he was unjust to himself, and said, “I don't think that
this wealth of mine will ever perish, and I do not believe that the
Hour of Resurrection will ever come. Anyhow if ever I am returned to
my Lord, I will get even a grander place than this.”38

[37-44]
His neighbor rebuked him during the conversation, saying, "What!
Do you disbelieve in the Being Who has created you from clay, then
from sperm drop and shaped you as a perfect man?39
As for myself; Allah alone is my Lord and I set up no partners with
Him. And when you were entering your garden, why didn't you say,
`Only that shall happen what He will: neither I nor any one else has
any power.40
If you find me now less in wealth and offspring than you, my Lord may
bestow on me a better garden than yours and send from heaven on your
garden a catastrophe that might turn it into a barren plain, or its
water might sink into the earth and you may not be able to bring it
out in any way." At last (it so happened that) all his fruit
produce was destroyed and, seeing his vines overturned on the
trellises, he began to wring his hands at the loss of what he had
spent on it, saying, "I wish I had not associated a partner with
my Lord! "He was so helpless that neither could he find any host
to help him against Allah, nor was himself able to avert that
catastrophe-It was then that he realized that all the power of
helping rests with Allah, the True One. That reward is the best Which
He bestows and that end is the-best to which He leads.

[45-49]
And O Prophet, bring home to them the reality of this worldly life by
a parable. It is like the vegetation of the earth that flourished
luxuriantly when We sent down rain water from the sky, but afterwards
the same vegetation was turned into chaff, which is blown away by the
wind: Allah has power over everything.41
Likewise this wealth and the offspring are mere transitory adornment
of worldly life: in fact the abiding good deeds are best in the sight
of your Lord in regard to their end, and hold out for you greater
hopes. The only thing, for which you should prepare, is the Day when
We will set the mountains in motion,42
and when you will find the Earth quite naked,43
and We will muster together all human beings in a way as to leave
none at all behind,44
and all shall be presented before your Lord in rows-Well! you may see
that you have come before Us in the same condition in which We
created you at first:45
You were under the delusion that We had not fixed any time of
appointment with you-Then the record of deeds shall be set before
them. At that time you will see that the criminals will be afraid of
the record of their book of life and will say, "Woe to us! What
sort of a book this is! It has left nothing unrecorded of our doings,
small or great." They will see before them everything,
whatsoever they had done, and your Lord will not be unjust to anyone
in the least.46

[50]
Remember! When We said to the angels, "Bow down before Adam".
They bowed down but Iblis did not.47
He was one of the jinns, so he chose the way of disobedience to his
Lord's Command.48
What, would you then discard Me and make him and his offspring your
patrons, though they are your enemies? What a bad substitute it is
that these workers of iniquity are taking!

[51]
I did not call them to witness the creation of the heavens and the
earth nor did I associate them in their own creation.49
It is not for Me to make My supporters those who lead others astray.

[52-53]
What they will do on the Day when their Lord will say to them: “Now
call all those whom you considered to be My partners.”50
They will call them but they will not respond and come to their help,
and We will set a gulf of perdition common between them.51
All the criminals will see the Fire on that Day and will have a
foreboding that they are going to fall into it, but will not find any
place of escape.

[54-55]
We have devised different ways in the Qur'an to make the people
understand its Message, but man is by nature very contentious. (The
question is) what kept them back from accepting guidance when it came
before them and from asking the forgiveness of their Lord? It is
nothing more than this that they are waiting for the same thing to
happen to them that visited the former communities; or that they
should see the scourge of Allah coming before them!52

[56]
The only mission for which We send the Messengers is to convey good
news and stern warning,53
but the disbelievers employ weapons of falsehood to defeat the Truth,
and they hold up to ridicule My servants and the warnings that have
been sent to them.

[57]
Now, who can be more unjust than the person before whom his Lord's
Revelations are recited to admonish him, and he turns away from them
and forgets the evil end to which he has paved the way with his own
hands? As regards those people, who have adopted such an attitude, We
have put coverings over their hearts which do not let them listen to
the Qur'an, and We have produced heaviness in their ears. While in
this state, they will never be guided aright howsoever you may invite
them to the Guidance.54

[58]
Your Lord is very Forgiving and very Merciful: Had He willed to seize
them for their evil deeds, He would have sent immediately a scourge
on them but He has appointed a time for its fulfillment, and they
will find no way out to escape from it.55

[59]
These habitations which were stricken with the scourge are before
you:56
when they committed iniquity We annihilated them, and We had
appointed a term for their annihilation.

[60-65]
(Now relate to them the event regarding Moses,) when Moses said to
his attendant, “I will not bring my journey to an end until I
reach the confluence of the two rivers: otherwise I will continue my
journey for years.”57
And it so happened that when they reached the confluence, they became
neglectful of their fish and it burrowed its way to the river as
through a tunnel. When they had passed on further, Moses said to his
attendant, “Let us have our breakfast, for we are dead tired
because of to-day's journey.” The attendant said, “Did
you not notice what a strange thing happened when we were taking rest
by the side of that rock? I totally forgot about the fish and satan
made me so neglectful of it that I could not mention it to you: the
fish slipped into the river in a marvelous manner.” Moses
replied, “That is exactly what we were seeking.”58
Accordingly, they both went back, retracing their footsteps, and
there they found one of our servants whom We had blessed with special
favor and had given him a special knowledge from Ourselves.59

[66-70]
Moses said to him, “May I accompany you, so that you may teach
me also that Wisdom, which has been taught to you?” He
answered, “You cannot bear with me, and you cannot have the
patience with regard to that matter of which you have no knowledge.”
Moses said, “If Allah wills, you will find me patient and I
will not disobey you in any matter.” He said, “Well, if
you want to accompany me, you should ask me no questions about
anything until I myself mention it to you.”

[71-73]
So they proceeded on until they boarded a boat, and that person bored
a hole in the boat. Moses cried out, “What! have you bored a
hole in it so that all the passengers may be drowned? This is a
grievous thing that you have done.” He answered, “Didn't
I tell you that you would not be able to bear with me patiently?”
Moses replied, “Please do not rebuke me for my forgetfulness,
and do not take me to task in regard to my conduct.”

[74]
Then they journeyed on until they met a boy and that person slew him.
Moses cried out, “Have you killed an innocent person, though he
had killed nobody? Surely this is a horrible deed that you have
committed.”

[75-76]
He answered, “Didn't I tell you that you would not be able to
bear with me patiently?” Moses said, “If after this, I
ask anything of you, you may not let me accompany you. Well, now I
have afforded you with an excuse from myself.”

[77-82]
Then they traveled on until they reached a certain habitation and
requested its inhabitants to give them some food but they declined to
entertain them. There they saw a wall which was about to fall down.
That person set it up again. Moses said, “Had you wanted, you
could have demanded payment for your labor.” The other said,
"That will do: we must now part company. Now I explain those
things about which you could not keep patience. As regards the boat,
it belonged to a few poor persons who toiled on the river. I intended
to damage it because further on there was the territory of a king who
forcibly seized every boat. As for the boy, his parents were true
Believers and we feared lest he should trouble them with his
rebellion and unbelief. Therefore we, wished that in his stead their
Lord may grant them another child who may be more righteous and
filial. As regards the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys, who
reside in this city. A treasure for them lies buried under this wall.
As their father was a righteous man, your Lord willed that when these
children attain their maturity, they should dig out their treasure.
All this has been done as a mercy from your Lord: I have not done
anything of my own authority. This is the interpretation of those
things about which you could not keep patience.60

[83]
And O Muhammad, they ask you about Zul-Qarnain:61
tell them, “I am going to recite to you an account of him.”62

[84-88]
We had established his power on the Earth and had provided him with
every kind of ways and means. At first, he made preparations for an
expedition (to the West and marched on) till he reached the limit
where the sun set,63
and found it setting in black waters,64
and there he saw a people. We said to him, “O Zul-Qarnain! You
have the power to punish them and also the option to treat them
generously.”65
He said, “We will punish that one of them who will commit
iniquity: then he shall be returned to his Lord and He will inflict
on him a grievous torment: And as for the one, who will believe and
do righteous deeds, there is a generous recompense and We will
prescribe for him easy tasks.”

[89-91]
Then he made preparations (for another expedition and marched on)
till he reached the limit where the sun rose. There he saw the sun
rising on a people, whom We had not given any shelter from sun
shine.66
This was their condition and We know well whatever Zul-Qarnain
possessed.

[92-98]
Then he made preparations (for another expedition and marched on)
till he reached between two mountains,67
where he found a people who could hardly understand any language.68
They said, “O Zul-Qarnain, Gog and Magog69
spread chaos in this land; should we then pay a tribute to you so
that you may build a bulwark between us and them” He said,
“What my Allah has granted me is more than enough. You should
help me only with manual labor and I will build a barrier between you
and them.70
Come, bring sheets of iron for me. "When he had filled the space
between the two mountains, he said to the people, “Now, ply
your bellows.” They did so till that (iron-wall) became red-hot
and he said, “Now let me pour molten brass upon it.” This
was such a barrier that Gog and Magog could not scale over it, nor
were they able to dig through it. Zul-Qarnain said, “This is a
mercy from my Lord; but when the time of my Lord's promise shall
come, He will level it to dust71
and the promise of my Lord is true.”72

[99-101]
And on that Day,73
We will let loose the people to come close together tumultuously
(like the waves of an ocean), and the trumpet shall be blown, and We
will gather together all mankind. On that Day Hell shall be brought
before the unbelievers who had become blind to My admonition and
turned a deaf ear to it.

[102]
What,74
do these people, who have disbelieved, presume that they would make
My servants their helpers beside Me?75
We have prepared Hell for the hospitality of such people.

[103-108]
O Muhammad, say to them, "Should We tell you who are the most
unsuccessful people and miserable failures in regard to their deeds?
They are those, whose endeavors, in the worldly life, had all gone
astray from the Right Way76
but all along they were under the delusion that everything they were
doing, was rightly directed: those are the people who rejected the
Signs of their Lord and did not believe that they would ever go
before Him. Therefore all their deeds were lost, for We will assign
no weight to them on the Day of Resurrection.77
Their recompense is Hell for the disbelief they showed and for the
mockery they adopted in regard to My Signs and My Messengers.
However, for the hospitality of those people who did righteous deeds,
there will be gardens of Paradise wherein they will abide for ever
and they will never desire to go anywhere out of them.78

[109]
O Muhammad, say to them, "If the waters of the ocean were to
become ink to write the Words79
of my Lord, it would exhaust but the Words of my Lord will not
exhaust: nay, even if We brought as much ink again, it will not
suffice for that.”

[110]
O Muhammad say to them, “I am a human being like you: it has
been revealed to me that your Deity is only One Allah. Therefore the
one who expects to meet his Lord, should not associate with Him any
other deity in His worship.”

1That
is, "There is nothing intricate or complicated in it that may
be beyond anyone's understanding nor is there anything that deviates
from the straight path of the Truth and thus cause hesitation in the
mind of a truth-loving person."

2"Those
people" includes the Christians, the Jews and the mushrik Arabs
who assigned offspring to Allah.

4This
refers to the real cause of the anxiety of the Holy Prophet at the
time of the revelation of this Surah . It clearly shows that the
Holy Prophet did not grieve at the persecution from which he and his
Companions were suffering but at the deviation and moral
degeneration of his people. What was consuming him was that, though
he was trying to bring them out from their disgraceful state, they
persisted in it. He was grieved because he was convinced that their
deviation would inevitably lead them to destruction and scourge of
Allah. Therefore he was working day and night to save them but it
appeared that they were bent upon incurring the chastisement of
Allah. The Holy Prophet himself has described this state of his mind
in a Tradition to this effect: "I may describe this thing in a
parable. A person kindled a fire to spread light but the moths
persist in falling over it to burn themselves alive. He vies to save
them from the fire but the moths reduce his efforts to failure. The
same is true of me and you. I hold you by your skirts to keep you
away from the fire, but you are bent upon falling into it."
(Bukhari, Muslim).

Though
apparently it is merely stated "...... it may be that you will
consume your life for their sake out of sorrow...." it also
contains a sort of consolation for the Holy Prophet, as if to say,
"As you are not responsible for forcing them to believe, why
should you consume yourself for their sake? Your only duty is to
give good news and warning and not to turn people into Believers.
Therefore you may go on carrying out your mission of giving good
news to the Believers and warning of the bad consequences to the
disbelievers."

5V.
6 was addressed to the Holy Prophet, but vv. 7-8 have been directed
to the disbelievers indirectly, as if to say, "You must
understand it clearly that all the things that you see in the world
and which allure you, are a transitory adornment which has been
arranged merely to test you, but it is a pity that you have been
involved in the misunderstanding that all these things have been
created to cater for your pleasure and enjoyment. That is why the
only aim and object of life you have set before you is: "Eat,
drink and be merry.." As a result of this you do not pay any
attention to your true and real well-wisher. You must understand it
well that these things have not been provided for pleasure but are
actually a means of testing you. You have been placed among them to
see which of you is allured by these from the real aim of life and
which of you keeps steadfast in the worship of Allah, for which you
have been sent to the world. All these things and means of pleasure
shall come to an end on the Day your examination is over and nothing
will remain on the earth because it will be turned into a bare
plain."

7There
is a difference of opinion about the meaning of ar-raqim. Some
Companions and their followers opined that it was the name of that
habitation where this event took place and that it was situated
somewhere between Aylah and Palestine. There are other commentators
who take it to mean the "Inscription" that had been set up
at the Cave as a memorial to "the Sleepers of the Cave".
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, in his commentary, Tarjmanul-Qur'an, has
preferred the first meaning and opined that it is the same place
which has been called Rekem in the Bible (Joshua, 18: 27). Then he
identifies it with the ancient historical city of Petra. But he has
not considered the fact that Rekem, as mentioned in the Bible,
belonged to the children of Benjamin and according to the Book of
Joshua, the territory of this clan was situated to the west of river
Jordan and the Dead Sea and that the ruins of Petra are situated to
the south of Jordan. That is why the modern archaeologists do not
believe that Petra and Rekem are one and the same place. (Please
refer to Encyclopedia Britannica, 1946, Vol XVII, page 658). We are
also of the opinion that by "Ar-raqim"is meant "the
inscription.”

8This
question has been posed to expose the skeptical attitude of the
disbelievers towards the “Sleepers of the Cave,” as if
to say, “Do you think that Allah, Who has created the heavens
and the earth, does not have the power to keep a few persons in a
state of sleep for a couple of hundred years and then to raise them
up as hale and hearty as they were at the time of going to sleep? If
you ever had pondered over the wonderful creation of the sun and the
moon and the earth, you would never have expressed any doubt that
such a thing was anything difficult for Allah.”

9The
oldest evidence of this story is found in a homily written in Syriac
by Jacob of Sarug, a Christian priest of Syria, who was born in A.D.
452, a few years after the death of "the Companions of the
Cave." The homily which describes the legend in great detail
was composed by him in or about A.D. 474. On the one hand, this same
Syriac version came into the hands of our early commentators, and
Ibn Jarir Tabari cited it in his commentary with various
authorities, and on the other, it reached Europe where its
translations and abridged versions were published in Greek and
Latin. The abridged story as told by Gibbon in Chapter 33 of his The
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire under the heading, "The
Seven Sleepers", so closely resembles the story told by our
commentators that both the versions seem to have been drawn from the
same source. For instance, the name of the king, whose persecutions
made the Seven Christian youths of Ephesus take refuge in the cave,
was Emperor Decius according to Gibbon. He ruled the Roman Empire
from A.D. 249 to 251 and whose reign is very notorious because of
his persecution of the followers of Prophet Jesus Christ, while our
commentators call him `Decanus', `Decaus', etc. The city, where this
event happened, was `Aphesus', or `Aphesos' according to our
commentators, while according to Gibbon it was Ephesus, which was
the biggest Roman city and sea-port on the west coast of Asia Minor.
The ruins of this city can still be seen 20 to 25 miles south of the
modern Turkish city of Izmir. (Please see Map No. 1 for reference).
Again the name of the king, during whose reign "the Companions
of the Cave" awoke was `Tezusius' according to the Muslim
commentators and Theodosius II according to Gibbon. He ruled over
Rome from A.D. 408 to 450, after the Roman Empire had accepted
Christianity.

The
resemblance between the two versions is so close that even the name
of the companion whom the Sleepers sent to the city to buy food
after waking up has been mentioned as `Jamblicha' by the Muslim
scholars and Jamblichus by Gibbon. The details of the story in both
the versions are also similar which are briefly as follows:

When
during the reign of the Emperor Decius the followers of Prophet
Jesus Christ were being mercilessly persecuted, the Seven Christian
youths hid themselves in a cave and fell into a sleep. Then in the
38th year of the reign of the Emperor Theodosius II (approximately
in A.D. 445 or 446) they awoke when the whole of the Roman Empire
had become Christian. Thus, they slept in the cave for nearly 196
years.

On this
ground some orientalists have rejected that the above-mentioned
story is the same as that given in the Qur'an because the period of
their stay in the cave according to the Qur'an (v. 25) was 309
years. We have, however, answered this objection in E.N. 25.

There are
a few minor differences between the Quranic and Syriac versions, on
the basis of which Gibbon has charged the Holy Prophet with
"ignorance". However, the Syriac version, on the basis of
whose authenticity he has committed this gross insolence, was even
according to him written thirty to forty years after the event by a
Syrian. He has not taken the trouble to consider the fact that
verbal versions of events do change a bit during such a long time
while they are communicated from one country to the other. Therefore
it is wrong to take such a version of the story for granted and
literally true and to charge the Qur'an with discrepancy for any
main difference with it. Such an attitude is worthy only .of those
people who are so blinded by religious prejudices that they discard
even the most ordinary demands of reason.

The city
of Ephesus where the event of the Sleepers of the Cave took place,
was built about 11th century B.C. and became a great center of idol
worship, its chief deity being the moon goddess, Diana, whose temple
was regarded as a wonder of the ancient world. Most of her devotees
belonged to Asia Minor and the Roman Empire also had accepted her as
one of its deities.

After
Prophet Jesus when his message started reaching different parts of
the Roman Empire, a few youths of Ephesus also gave up idol worship
and accepted God as their only Lord. Gregory of Tours has collected
details about these Christian youths in his Meraculorum Liber, which
are briefly as follows:

"They
were seven youths. When the Emperor Decius heard of their change of
faith, he summoned them and questioned them about their new
religion. ht spite of knowing that the Emperor was deadly against
the followers of Christ, they frankly admitted before him that their
Lord is the Lord of the earth and heavens, and that they recognized
none else as Deity for if they did so, they would be committing a
grave sin. The Emperor became furious to hear this, and warned that
he would have them killed, but then considering their tender age, he
granted them three days in which they were counseled to revert to
their old faith, otherwise they would be put to death.

"The
seven youths took advantage of the situation and fled the city to
conceal themselves in a cave in the mountains. On the way a dog also
followed them: they did their best to scare it away, but it would
not leave them. At last they found a spacious cave as a suitable
refuge and hid in it, and the dog sat at the entrance. Being tired
they soon fell into a deep slumber. This happened in about 250 A.D.
After about 197 years, in 447 A.D., during the reign of Emperor
Theodosius II, they awoke suddenly when the whole Roman Empire had
embraced Christianity and the Ephesians had given up idolatry.

"At
this time a fierce controversy was going on among the Romans
regarding the reality of the life-after-death and Resurrection, and
the Emperor himself was anxious to eradicate somehow the disbelief
in the life-after-death from the minds of his people. So much so
that one day he prayed that God in His mercy may show a sign which
tray help restore and correct the people's belief. In precisely the
same days the Seven Sleepers awoke in the cave.

"After
waking up the youths started asking one another about how long they
might have slept. Some said it might have been a day: others said it
was a part of a day. When they reached no conclusion, they stopped
arguing, leaving the knowledge of the exact period to God.

Then they
sent Jean, a companion, to the city with a few silver coins to buy
food, and warned him to be on his guard lest the people should
recognize him, for they feared that if they were discovered the
Ephesians would force them to bow before Diana. But when Jean came
to the city he was astonished to see that the world had changed: the
whole population had embraced Christianity, and there was nobody in
the city to worship Diana. He came to a shop and wanted to buy a few
loaves of bread. When he paid in a coin bearing the image of Emperor
Decius, the shopkeeper could not believe his eyes and asked the
stranger from where he had obtained that coin. When the young man
said that it was his own, a dispute began between them and soon a
crowd gathered around them, and the matter reached the chief officer
of the city. The officer himself was puzzled and wanted to know the
whereabouts of the treasure-house from where the young man had taken
the coin, but the latter insisted that it belonged to him. The
officer did not believe him because he thought that a young man like
him could not possibly possess a centuries-old coin which had not
even been seen by the elders in the city. When Jean came to know
that the Emperor Decius had died., he was pleasantly surprised. He
told the crowd that he and his six companions had fled the city only
the other day and taken refuge in a cave to escape Decius'
persecution. The officer was greatly surprised and followed the
young man to see the cave where his companions lay in hiding. And a
great crowd followed behind them. When they came to the cave, it was
fully established that the youths really belonged to the Emperor
Decius' period. Consequently, Emperor Theodosius was informed and he
also visited the cave to receive grace. Then the seven youths went
back into the cave and lay down and breathed their last. Seeing this
clear sign the people's belief in the life-after-death was restored,
and a monument was ordered to be built over the cave by the
Emperor."

The story
of the Sleepers of the Cave as narrated above, corresponds so
closely with that mentioned in the Qur'an that the seven youths can
easily be regarded as "Ashab-i-Kahf" (the Companions of
the Cave). Some people, however, have raised the objection that this
story concerns a city of Asia Minor, and the Qur'an does not discuss
or refer to any event that might have taken place outside Arabia;
therefore it would be against the Quranic style and spirit to label
this Christian story as the story of Ashab-i-Kahf'. In our opinion
this objection is not correct. The Qur'an means to impress and warn
the Arabs by relating stories concerning the various ancient tribes
who had transgressed from the right path and with whom they were
familiar, whether they lived and flourished inside Arabia or outside
it. It is for this very reason that a mention has been made of the
ancient history of Egypt in the Qur'an, whereas Egypt has never been
a part of Arabia. The question is that when the history of Egypt can
be mentioned in the Qur'an, why cannot Rome and the Roman history
with which the Arabs were as familiar as with the Egyptian history?
The Roman frontiers adjoined the northern Hijaz and the Arab
caravans traded with the Romans almost throughout the year. Then
there were a number of Arab tribes who were directly under Roman
domination and the Roman Empire was in no way unknown to the Arabs,
a fact which is fully borne nut by Surah Ar-Rum. Another thing which
should be borne in mind is that the story of the Sleepers of the
Cave has been related in the Qur'an in response to a query raised by
the disbelievers of Makkah, who had been prompted by the Jews and
Christians to question the Holy Prophet on such matters as were
wholly unknown to the Arabs in order to test his Prophethood.

10That
is, when they had believed sincerely, Allah increased their faith in
the guidance and enabled them to become firm and steadfast on the
way of the Truth even at the risk of their lives rather than
surrender before falsehood.

11When
these God-worshiping youths fled the habitations to take refuge in
the hills, the city of Ephesus was the principal center of
idol-worship and sorcery in Asia Minor. There was a great temple
dedicated to the goddess Diana, which was well-known in the whole
world and attracted devotees from far end wide. The sorcerers,
workers of magic and occult arts, sooth-sayers and amulet writers of
Ephesus were well-known and their black business had spread
throughout Syria and Palestine, even as far as Egypt. The Jews also
had a big share in it, who attributed this art to Prophet Solomon.
(Please see Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature under `Ephesus', for
details). The predicament in which the righteous people living in an
environment of idolatry and superstition were involved can well be
imagined from the remark of "the Companions of the Cave¦
that occurs in v. 20: "....... if they succeed in over-powering
us, they will surely stone us to death or force us back into their
Faith."

12It
has not been mentioned that in accordance with this mutual resolve,
they left the city and went to a secret Cave in the mountains in
order to escape from death or forced apostasy.

13This
is to show that the mouth of the Cave faced the north. That is why
the light of the sun could not enter inside the Cave and the one who
passed by it could not see who was inside it.

14That
is, "If some one could have peeped at the Seven Persons from
outside and seen them turning from one side to the other at
intervals, he would have thought that they were not asleep but were
relaxing themselves."

15Allah
had so arranged their refuge that none dared go inside the Cave and
know about them for it was pitch dark in the Cave and the dog was
keeping watch at the entrance. If someone ever peeped into the Cave
and saw the Sleepers, he took them for some robbers and at once
turned on his heels. This was the reason why their refuge remained a
secret to the outer world for such a long period.

16They
were roused from their sleep in the same miraculous way that was
employed in sending them to sleep and keeping them hidden from the
outer world.

17The
secret of their sleep was revealed when one of them went to Ephesus
to buy food for them and offered a coin of the period of Emperor
Decius. As it was a changed world, he naturally attracted attention
for he was wearing a costume of 300-year old fashion and spoke a
language different from that in vogue. This was because during those
two centuries the language, culture, dress etc., had undergone a
marked change. So the shopkeeper looked askance at him and,
according to a Syriac tradition, suspected that he had dug up some
ancient treasure. Accordingly, he gathered some people of his
neighborhood and they took him before the ruler. On questioning, it
was discovered that he was one of those followers of Christ, who had
fled the city 300 years ago to save their Faith. As most of the
population had embraced Christianity, the news immediately spread
throughout the city and a big crowd of the people along with the
Christian Roman Ruler, arrived at the Cave. It was then that the
Sleepers of the Cave came to know that they had slept for about
three hundred years. So after making salutations to their Christian
brothers they lay down and their souls left their bodies.

18According
to the Syriac tradition, at the time of this occurrence, hot
discussions were going on in Ephesus about Resurrection and the
Hereafter. Though the people had embraced Christianity under the
influence of the Roman Empire, yet traces of shirk and idolatry of
the Romans and the effects of the Greek philosophy were still very
powerful. So in spite of the Christian creed of the Hereafter, many
people denied this, or at least were skeptical about this. To add to
this the Sadducee sect of the Jews, who formed a great part of the
population of the city, openly denied the Hereafter and professed to
base this on the Torah. The Christian scholars, however, could not
put forward any strong arguments to refute them: so much so that the
reports of the polemical discussion given in Matthew, Mark and Luke,
attributed to Prophet Christ, are admittedly very weak even
according to the Christian scholars. (Please refer to Matthew 22:
23-33, Mark 12: 18-27, Luke 20: 27-40). That is why the disbelievers
in the Hereafter were having the upper hand and even the believers
were being involved in doubts about it. It was at that time that the
Sleepers of the Cave were raised up and furnished an absolute proof
of the life-after-death and turned the scales in favor of the
believers in this dispute.

19It
appears from the context that this was the saying of the righteous
people from among the Christians. They were of the opinion that a
wall should be raised at the entrance of the Cave in order to let
the Sleepers remain in the same condition in which they were, for
they argued that their Lord alone knew best about their rank and
position and the reward they deserved.

20The
people "who prevailed in their matter" were the Roman
rulers and the priests of the Christian Church, who did not let the
righteous Christians have their way. This was because by the middle
of the fifth century, the common people, especially the orthodox
among the Christians, had become fully involved in shirk and the
worship of saints and tombs. They used to visit the tombs of the
saints to worship them and kept the statues of Jesus, Mary and the
apostles in their churches: so much so that a few years before the
rising up of the Sleepers of the Cave, in 431 A.D., a great council
of the representatives of the Christian World had been held in
Ephesus itself, in which it was resolved that the creed of the
divinity of Christ and of Mary as the mother of God, should be
included in the articles of the Christian Church. If we keep in view
the year 431, it becomes clear that by "those who prevailed in
their matter" are meant the leaders of the Church and the
officers of the government, who had the reins of the religious and
political powers in their hands. In fact these were the people who
were the upholders of shirk and who decided that a mausoleum should
be built over the Cave of the Sleepers to make it a place of
worship.

21It
is an irony that some people among the Muslims have misconstrued
this verse of the Qur'an so as to make it lawful for themselves to
build mausoleums, monuments and mosques over the tombs of the
righteous persons and saints. The Qur'an has, in fact, pointed out
the deviation of the workers of iniquity who prevailed upon others
and built a place of worship over the Cave of the Sleepers, who were
indeed a Sign of Resurrection and of the life-after-death. But they
abused this good opportunity and produced another means of
practicing shirk.

One fails
to understand how anyone can deduce from this verse an argument for
the legality of building mosques over the tombs of the righteous
people, when the Holy Prophet has categorically prohibited this:

(1)
"Allah has cursed those women who visit tombs and those people
who build mosques over them and burn lights over them" (Ahmad,
Tirmizi, Abu Dawud, Nasa'i, Ibn Majah).

(2)
"Beware that the people, who have passed before you, made the
tombs of their Prophets the places of their worship. I forbid you to
do that." (Muslim)

(3)
"Allah has cursed the Jews and the Christians, for they made
the tombs of their Prophets the places of their worship."
(Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Nasa'i).

(4) "The
behavior of those people was strange: if a righteous person from
among them, died they would build a mosque over his grave and draw
his pictures. They will be treated as worst criminals on the Day on
Resurrection." (Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Nasa'i).

Thus, it
is clear from the above Sayings of the Holy Prophet that building of
the places of worship over the tombs is utterly unlawful; the Qur'an
has merely stated as a historical fact the sinful act of the
Christian priests and the Roman rulers and has not sanctioned such a
thing. Therefore no God-fearing person can turn this into an
argument for building mosques over the tombs.

Incidentally,
it will be worth while to cite a statement of Rev. T. Arundell who
published his Discoveries in Asia Minor in 1834. He says that he had
seen the remains of the Mausoleums of Mary and the Seven Sleepers on
a hillock near the remains of the ancient city of Ephesus.

22This
shows that about three hundred years after this event, at the time
of the revelation of the Qur'an, different stories had become
current among the Christians about the Sleepers of the Cave, but
generally these stories had no authentic source behind them.' This
was because that was not the age of the press in which authentic
books might have been published. Therefore naturally the stories of
events were carried from place to place by means of oral traditions,
and with the passage of time many tales of fiction got mixed up with
the real story.

23This
is meant to impress that the real thing in this story is not the
number of the Sleepers but the lessons it teaches: (1) A true
believer should not on any account turn away from the truth and bow
before falsehood. (2) A believer should not merely rely on the
material means but on Allah. He should trust in God and follow the
right way, even though the outward adverse circumstances might
appear to be unfavorable. (3) It is wrong to suppose that Allah is
bound by any so-called "Law of Nature", for He is able to
do any thing He wills even though that might seem to be against some
common experience. He has the power to change any so-called law of
nature, whenever and wherever He wills and bring about any
extraordinary "supernatural" thing. So much so that He can
raise up anyone who might have been asleep for two hundred years, as
if he had slept only for a few hours, without letting any change
take place in his appearance, dress, health, indeed in anything,
during the passage of time. (4) This teaches us that Allah has the
power to bring to life all the generations-past, present and future
all together as asserted by the Prophets and Divine Scriptures. (5)
It teaches us that ignorant people have always been perverting the
Signs of Allah which are sent for the right guidance of the people.
That is how the miracle of the Sleepers of the Cave, which had been
shown as a proof of the Hereafter, had been turned into a means of
shirk, as if they were some saints who had been sent only for this
purpose.

It is
obvious from the above-mentioned real lessons, which one can learn
from the story of the Sleepers, that a wise man will pay his
attention to these things and not divert it in search of their
number, their names, the color of their dog and the like. Only those
people, who have no interest for the reality but for superficial
things, will spend their time and energy in making investigations
about such things. That is why Allah instructed the Holy Prophet:
"You should not enter into useless and irrelevant discussions
about such things, if other people try to involve you in them.
Instead of wasting your time in such useless things, you should
concentrate your attention only on your mission." That is why
Allah has not Himself told their exact number lest it should
encourage such people as are always hankering after useless things.

24This
is a parenthetical clause which has been inserted here because of
its relevancy to the preceding verse, in which it was asserted that
the correct number of the Sleepers of the Cave is known only to
Allah and a research into it is a useless task. Therefore one should
refrain from investigating into unimportant things, nor enter into
discussions about them. This has led to the instruction contained in
the parenthetical clause for the benefit of the Holy Prophet and the
Believers who have been told never to make a positive assertion like
this: "I will do this thing tomorrow", for you do not know
whether you will be able to do that thing or not: you have neither
the knowledge of the unknown nor have full powers to do what you
like. If ever inadvertently you utter anything like this, you should
at once remember your Lord and say, "Insha Allah." Besides
this you do not know whether there will be any good for you in the
thing about which you say, “I will do this.” It is
possible that you may do another thing better than that. Therefore
you should trust in God and say, "I hope that my Lord will
guide me in this matter with that thing which is nearer to the right
way for me."

25This
sentence is connected with the theme preceding the parenthetical
clause like this: "Some people wilt say, `They were three and
the fourth was their do:.....' and some people will say that they
remained in the Cave for three hundred years and some others would
add nine more years (to the reckoning of the period)". We are
of the opinion that the number of the years "300 and 309"
have not been stated by Allah Himself but Allah has cited these as
sayings of the people. "this opinion is based on this
succeeding sentence: "Allah knows best about the period of
their stay there. If the number of years, given in v. 25, had been
from Allah, this succeeding sentence would have been meaningless.
hadrat `Abdullah bin 'Abbas has also opined that this is not the
saying of Allah but that of the people which has been cited as a
part of the story.

26After
relating the story of the Sleepers of the Cave, the Qur'an begins to
review the condition of the Muslims of Makkah at the time of the
revelation of the Surah.

27This
does not mean at all that, God forbid, the Holy Prophet was inclined
to make any changes in the Qur'an to please the disbelievers of
Makkah and was thinking of some formula of compromise with the
chiefs of the Quraish which necessitated a warning that he was not
authorized to do so. As a matter of tact, though this was apparently
addressed to the Holy Prophet, it was really meant for the
disbelievers that they should not entertain any hope whatsoever for
anything like this, as if to say, "You must understand it once
for all that Our Messenger is nut authorized to make any changes in
Our Revelation, for he has to precisely just as it is sent down to
him. If you want to accept it, you will have to accept it in its
entirety as it is being sent by the Lord of the Universe: and if you
want to reject it, you may do so but you must understand it well
that no modification even in the least, will be made in it to please
you. " This was the answer to the repeated demand of the
disbelievers. "If you do insist, O Muhammad (Allah's peace be
upon him), that we should accept your Message in its entirety, then
make certain modifications in it to accommodate some creeds and
customs of our forefathers, and we will accept your Message. This is
our offer for a compromise and this will save our people from
dis-union. " This demand of the disbelievers has been cited in
the Qur'an at several places and the same answer has been given,
e.g. "When Our clear Revelations are recited to them, those who
do not expect to meet Us, say, `Bring an other Qur'an in its stead
or make some amendments in it' ...." (X: 15)

28Though
these words have also been addressed to the Holy Prophet, they are
really meant for the chiefs of the Quraish. According to a Tradition
related by Ibn `Abbas, the chiefs of the Quraish would say to the
Holy Prophet that they considered it below their dignity to sit with
such people as Bilal, Suhaib, 'Ammar, Khabbab, Ibn-Mas`ud and the
like who generally remained in his company: and that if he should
send them away, they would be willing to attend his meetings in
order to learn about his Message. At this Allah revealed this verse:
"And keep yourself whole-heartedly content with those who pray
to their Lord morning and evening in order to win His approval and
do not turn your attention away from them: (Do you desire to discard
these sincere but poor people so that the chiefs of the Quraish, the
well-to-do people, should come and sit near you?)" This was
meant to warn the chiefs of the Quraish to this effect: "Your
wealth, your pomp and show of which you are so proud, has no value
at all in the sight of Allah and His Messenger; nay, those poor
people are really more worthy in their sight, for they are sincere
and always remember Allah." The same was the attitude of the
chiefs of Prophet Noah's people, who said, "And we see also
that none but the meanest and the most shallow of our people have
become your followers. " .... (Noah replied,) "I am not
going to drive away those who have believed in me, nor can I say
about those whom you disdain, `Allah has not bestowed any good on
them' . . . " (XXI: vv. 27, 29, 31)

29That
is, "Do not yield to what he says, nor submit to him, nor
fulfill his desire, nor follow his bidding."

30The
original Arabic text may also mean, "Who discards the truth,
breaks all moral limits and rushes on headlong." But in both
cases it comes to this: "The one, who is neglectful of Allah
and becomes a slave of his lust, inevitably transgresses all limits
and becomes a victim of immoderation. Therefore the one,who will
submit to him, will also follow the same way and wander about in
deviation after him.

31This
verse makes it quite plain that the story of the Sleepers of the
Cave has been related to tell the opponents of Islam: "This is
the Truth from your Lord: now whosoever wills, he may accept it and
whosoever wills, he may reject it. But people must understand that
no compromise will be made in regard to the Truth just as the
Sleepers of the Cave did not make any compromise with regard to
their creed. They did not make any compromise in regard to the
Doctrine of Tauhid after they had believed in it and categorically
declared, "Our Lord is the One Who alone is the Lord of the
heavens and the earth." After this declaration they did not in
any way accede to the making of any compromise with their people,
who had gone astray, but firmly declared, "We will not give Him
up and pray to other deities, because it will be the most improper
thing, if we do so." After making this declaration they left
their people and deities and took refuge in the Cave without taking
any provisions with them. After' this when they rose up, the only
thing about which they showed any anxiety, was that their people
might not succeed in forcing them back to their own faith. After
relating these things, the Qur'an addresses the Holy Prophet to the
effect (though these words are really meant for the opponents of
Islam): "It is absolutely out of question whether any
compromise can be made with mushriks and disbelievers. present the
truth intact to them whether they accept it or not. If they do not
accept it, they themselves will meet with an evil end. As regards
those, who have accepted the Truth (whether they be youngsters or
poor, indigent people or slaves or laborers,) they are really those
people who have a worth with Allah, and they alone will be honored.
Therefore you should not discard them and prefer the chiefs and the
rich people who may be neglectful of Allah and be slaves of their
lust, even though they might be possessors of worldly grandeur."

32The
Arabic word (Suradiq) literally means sides of a tent but, as used
in the case of Hell, it may mean its external boundaries to which
its flames and heat may reach. According to some commentators, it
applies to the future reuse "...its flames will encircle them"
so as to refer to the flames of Hell in the Hereafter. But we are of
the opinion that its flames have already encircled, in this very
world, these workers of iniquity, who have turned away from the
Truth and that they cannot escape them.

33The
Arabic word (muhl) has several lexical meanings. According to some
people, it means "the residue of oil"; according to
others, "lava", which is formed by the melting of things
in the earth; according to some, "molten matter" and
according to others "pus and blood"

34The
dwellers of Paradise will be adorned with bracelets of gold like the
kings of ancient times. This will be to show that they will be
adorned like the kings of this world, whereas an unbeliever and
wicked king will be disgraced there.

35The
Arabic word (ara aik) is plural of arikah which is that kind of
throne that is covered with an umbrella. This is also to show that
in Paradise the Believers will sit on thrones like the kings of this
world.

36In
order to understand the significance of this parable we should keep
in view v. 28 in which arrogant chiefs , of Makkah were told that
the poor Companions of the Holy Prophet would not be discarded to
please them.

37He
considered his gardens to be "Paradise". Thus he behaved
like those mean persons, who, when rise to power and wealth, are
always involved in the misunderstanding that they are enjoying
"Paradise" in this world; therefore they do not stand in
need of any other Paradise.

38That
is, “I don't think there is any life-after-death, but
supposing there be one, 1 shall fare even better there than in my
present life, for my prosperity is a clear proof that I am a
favorite of God.”

39This
shows that "unbelief " in Allah is not confined to the
denial of the existence of God in so many words, but arrogance,
pride, vanity and the denial of the Hereafter are also kufr.
Although that person did not deny the existence of Allah, may be he
professed it as is apparent from his words ("If ever I am
returned to my Lord-"), yet in spite of his profession, his
neighbor charged him with unbelief in Allah. This is because the
person, who considers his wealth and his grandeur etc., to be the
fruits of his own power and capability and not the favors of Allah,
and who thinks that they are everlasting and none can take than away
from hint and that he is not accountable to anyone, is guilty of
"unbelief in Allah,” even though he might profess belief
in Him, for he acknowledges Allah as a Being and not as his Master,
Owner and Sovereign. In fact, belief in Allah demands not merely the
profession of His existence but also the acknowledgment of His
Sovereignty, Mastery, Rule and the like.

40That
is, "If we are able to do anything, it is by the help and
support of Allah alone."

41"Allah
has power over everything": He gives life and also death: He
causes the rise and the downfall: It is by His command that the
seasons change. Therefore, O disbelievers, if you are enjoying
prosperity today, you should be under no delusion that this
condition will remain for ever. That God, by Whose command these
things have been bestowed on you, has the power to snatch away all
this by another command.

42The
mountains will begin to move about like clouds when the gravitation
of the earth shall be brought to an end. The Qur'an has described
the same thing in XXVII: 88 in this way: "When you see the
mountains, you consider them to be firmly fixed, but they shall be
floating about like clouds at that time."

43"You
will find the Earth quite naked": You will find no vegetation
and no building on it and it will become a barren plain. It is the
same thing that has been stated in v. 8 of this Chapter.

44That
is, "We will muster together every human being from the first
Man, Adam, to the last one born in the last moment of the Day of
Resurrection: even that child which had breathed the first breath
after its birth, shall be resurrected and all shall be mustered at
one and the same tune."

45This
thing will be addressed to those who denied the Hereafter, as if to
say, "Well, now you see that the information given by the
Prophets has come out to be true. They told you that Allah would
bring you to life again as He first brought you out from the wombs
of your mothers but you disbelieved in it. Now say whether you have
been brought to life for the second time or not."

46"Your
Lord will not be unjust to anyone in the least": Neither will
an evil deed not committed by someone have been recorded in his
Conduct Register, nor shall anyone be punished more than one
deserved for his crime, nor shall an innocent person be punished at
all.

47The
reference to the story of Adam and Iblis has been made here to warn
the erring people of their folly. It is an obvious folly that people
should discard their Prophets, who were their well-wishers, and get
entangled in the snare set by their eternal enemy, Iblis, who has
been jealous of man ever since he refused to bow down before Adam
and became accursed.

48It
was possible for Iblis to disobey Allah because he was not one of
the angels but one of the jinns. It must be noted that the Qur'an is
very explicit that the angels are inherently obedient:

(1) "They
do not show arrogance; they fear their Lord Who is above them, and
do whatever they are bidden." (XVI: 50)

(2)
"..... They do not disobey the Command that is given to them by
their Lord and do whatever they are bidden to do." (LXVI: 6)

In
contrast to the angels, the jinns have been, like human beings,
given the option to obey or not to obey. Therefore they have been
given the power to believe or disbelieve, to obey or not to obey.
This thing has been made explicit here by saying that Iblis was one
of the jinns, so he deliberately chose the way of disobedience.
Incidentally, this verse removes all those misunderstandings that
are generally found among the common people that Iblis was one of
the angels and not an ordinary angel but the instructor of the
angels. As regards the difficulty that arises because of this
statement of the Qur'an, "When We said to the angels, `Bow down
before Adam. They bowed down but Iblis did not'," it should be
noted that the Command to the angels was meant for all those on the
Earth who were under the administration of the angels so that they
should also be made submissive to man. Accordingly all these
creatures bowed along with the angels but Iblis refused to bow down
along with them.

49This
thing has been asserted to impress on the disbelievers that the
satans were not entitled to their submission and worship, for they
had no share at all in the creation of the heavens and the earth,
nay, they themselves were the creation of Allah: therefore Allah
alone was worthy of worship.

50This
theme has already been stated at several places in the Qur'an. This
is to impress that it is shirk to discard the commandments and the
guidance of Allah and to follow the orders and guidance of any other
than Allah, though one may not be professing with one's tongue that
there is any partner of Allah: nay, if one might be cursing others
but at the same time following their orders instead of Divine
Commandments, even then that one shall be guilty of shirk. For
instance, we see that everyone in this world curses satans but still
follows them. According to the Qur'an, in spite of cursing them, if
people follow satans, they shall be guilty of setting up satans as
partners with Allah. Though this will not be shirk in so many words,
it will be tantamount to the practice of shirk and the Qur'an
denounces this as shirk.

51Generally
the commentators have assigned two meanings to this. The one is the
same that we have adopted in our translation and the other is this:
"We will cause enmity between them." That is, "Their
friendship in this world shall be turned into bitter enmity in the
Hereafter.”

52This
is to warn the people that the Qur'an has left no stone unturned in
making the Truth plain. It has employed all kinds of arguments,
parables, similitudes and used all the possible effective ways to
appeal to the heart and the mind of man, and adopted the best
possible style. In short, nothing has been left that could persuade
the people to accept the Truth. If, in spite of this, they do not
accept the truth, it is obvious that they are waiting for God's
scourge like the one that visited the former communities to make
them realize their error.

(1) We
send Our Messengers to forewarn the people before the coming of the
judgment of the good results of obedience and the evil consequences
of disobedience. But these foolish people are not taking advantage
of these forewarnings and insist on seeing the same evil end from
which the Messengers desire to save them.

(2) It'
they insist on meeting with the scourge, they should not demand this
from the Messenger because the Messenger is sent not to bring a
scourge but to warn the people beforehand to escape from it.

54Allah
puts a covering over the heart of a person and makes his ears hard
of hearing the Truth when he adopts the attitude of contention,
dispute, wrangling and argumentation towards the admonition of a
well-wisher and tries to defeat the truth with the weapons of
falsehood and cunning. Naturally this attitude produces in him
obduracy and obstinacy so that he turns a deaf ear towards guidance,
and is unwilling to realize his error before seeing his evil end.
For such people pay no heed to admonition and warning and insist on
falling into the abyss of perdition: then and then alone they are
convinced that it was perdition towards which they were rushing
headlong.

55This
is to warn the foolish people that they should not be deluded by the
respite that is given to them and presume that they will never be
taken to task whatever they may go on doing. They forget that Allah
gives them respite because He is Forgiving and Forbearing and does
not punish the evil-doers on the spot, for His Mercy demands that
the evil-doers should be given respite so that they may mend their
ways.

56The
ruined habitations were of Saba, Thamud, Midian and the people of
Prophet Lot, which were visited by the Quraish during their trade
journeys, and which were quite well known to other Arabs also.

57Though
this story was told in answer to the question of the disbelievers,
it has been used to impress a very important truth on the minds of
both the disbelievers and the believers. It is this: those people
who draw their conclusions only from the seeming aspects of events,
make a very serious error in their deductions, for they only see
what is apparent and do not go deep into the Divine Wisdom that
underlies them. When they daily see the prosperity of the tyrants
and the afflictions of the innocent people, the affluence of the
disobedient people and the indigence of the obedient people, the
enjoyments of the wicked people and the adversity of the virtuous
people, they get involved in mental conflicts, nay, they become
victims of misunderstandings because they do not comprehend the
wisdom behind them. The disbelievers and the tyrants conclude from
this that the world is functioning without any moral laws and has no
sovereign, and, if there is one, he must be senseless and unjust:
therefore one may do whatever one desires for there is none to whom
one shall be accountable. On the other hand, when the believers see
those things, they become so frustrated and disheartened that
sometimes their faiths are put to x very hard trial. It was to
unravel the wisdom behind this mystery that Allah slightly lifted
the curtain from the Reality governing His factory, so that Moses
might see the wisdom behind the events that are happening day and
night and how their seeming aspect is quite different from the
Reality.

Now let
us consider the question: when and where did this event take place?
The Qur'an says nothing about this. There is a tradition related by
Aufi in which he cites a saying of Ibn 'Abbas to this effect: "This
event happened after the destruction of Pharaoh when Prophet Moses
had settled his people in Egypt". But this is not supported by
other more authentic traditions from Ibn 'Abbas which Dave been
cited in the collection of Bukhari and other books of Traditions,
nor is there any other source which may prove that Prophet Moses
ever settled in Egypt after the destruction of Pharaoh. On the
contrary, the Qur'an says explicitly that Prophet Moses passed the
whole of his life after Exodus from Egypt in the desert (Sinai and
At-Tilt). Therefore the tradition from 'Aufi cannot be accepted.
However, if we consider the details of this story, two things are
quite obvious: (1) These things would have been demonstrated to
Prophet Moses in the earlier period of his Prophethood because such
things are needed in the beginning of Prophethood for the teaching
and training of the Prophets. (2) As this story has been cited to
comfort the Believers of Makkah, it can be reasonably concluded that
these demonstrations would have been shown to Prophet Moses, when
the Israelites were encountering the same conditions as the Muslims
of Makkah did at the time of the revelation of this Surah. On the
basis of these two things, we are of the opinion (and correct
Knowledge is with Allah alone) that this event relates to the
period, when the persecution of the Israelites by Pharaoh was at its
height and, like the chiefs of the Quraish, Pharaoh and his
courtiers were deluded by delay in the scourge that there was no
power above them to take them to task, and like the persecuted
Muslims of Makkah, the persecuted Muslims of Egypt were crying in
their agony, as if to say, "Our Lord! how long will the
prosperity of these tyrants and our adversity continue ?" So
much so that Prophet Moses himself cried out: ".... Our Lord,
Thou hast bestowed on Pharaoh and his nobles splendor and
possessions in the worldly life; O our Lord, hast Thou done this
drat they might lead astray the people from Thy Way?..." (X:
88)

If our
conjecture is correct, then it may be concluded that probably this
event took place during Prophet Moses' journey to Sudan, and by the
confluence of the rivers is meant the site of the present city of
Khartum where the Blue Nile and the White Nile meet together.

The Bible
does not say anything about this event but the Talmud does relate
this though it assigns it to Rabbi Jochanan, the son of Levi,
instead of to Prophet Moses, and according to it the other person
was Elijah who had been taken up alive to heaven and joined with the
angels for the purpose of the administration of the world. (The
Talmud Selections by H. Polano, pp. 313-16).

It is
just possible that like the events, which happened before the
Exodus. this event also might not have remained intact but during
the passage of centuries changes and alterations might have been
made in it. But it is a pity that some Muslims have been so
influenced by the Talmud that they opine that in this story Moses
does not refer to Prophet Moses but to some other person bearing the
same name. They forget that every tradition of the Talmud is not
necessarily correct, nor have we any reason to suppose that the
Qur'an has related the story concerning some unknown person bearing
the name "Moses". Above all, when we learn from an
authentic Tradition related by Ubayy-bin-Ka`ab that the Holy Prophet
himself made it clear that in this story, by Moses is meant Prophet
Moses, there is absolutely no reason why any Muslim should consider
any statement of the Talmud at all.

The
Orientalists have, as usual, tried to make a "research"
into the "sources" of this story and have pointed out that
"The Kuranic story may be traced back to three main
sources:'(1) The Gilgamesh Epic, (2) The Alexander Romance and (3)
The Jewish Legend of Elijah and Rabbi Joshua hen Levi (Encyclopaedia
of Islam new edition and Shorter Erlcyclopaedia of !slam under the
heading Al Khadir). This is because these malicious "scholars"
decide beforehand that their "scientific research" must
lead to the conclusion that the Qur'an is not a revealed book:
therefore they have, anyhow or other, to produce a proof that
whatever Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) has presented as
Revelation, has been plagiarized from such and such "sources".
In this these people brazen facedly use "facts" and
"quotations" so cunningly and cleverly as to achieve their
mean end and one begins to have nausea at their "research".
If that is research what these bigoted forgers make, then one is
compelled to curse their "knowledge and research."

We ask
them to answer our questions in order to expose their "research":

(I) What
proof have you got to make the claim that the Qur'an has based a
certain statement on the contents of a couple of ancient books?
Obviously it will not be "research" to build this claim on
the scant basis that a certain statement trade in the Quran is
similar to the one found in these books.

(2) Do
you possess any knowledge that at the time of the revelation of the
Qur'an there was a library at Makkah from which the Holy Prophet
collected material for the Qur'an? This question is pertinent
because if a list were to be trade of the numerous books in
different languages, which you allege were sources of the stories
and statements contained in the Qur'an, it will become long enough
for a big library. Have you got any proof that Muhammad (Allah's
peace be upon him) had arranged for such translators as translated
into Arabic those books from different languages for his use? If it
is not so and your allegation is based on a couple of journeys which
the Holy Prophet made outside Arabia, a question arises: How many
books did the Holy Prophet copy or commit to memory during these
trade journeys before his Prophethood? And how is it that even a day
before he claimed to be a Prophet, no sign at all was displayed in.
his conversation that he had gathered such information as was
revealed in the Qur'an afterwards?

(3) How
is it then that the contemporary disbelievers of Makkah and the Jews
and the Christians, who like you, were always in search of such a
proof, could not put forward even a single instance of plagiarism?
They had a goad reason to produce an instance of this because they
were being challenged over and over again to refute the claim that
the Qur'an was a revealed book and it had no other source than
Divine Knowledge and that if they said that it was a human work,
they were to prove this by bringing the like of it. Though this
challenge had broken the back of the contemporary opponents of
Islam, they could not point out even a single plausible source that
might prove reasonably that the Qur'an was based on it. In the light
of these facts one may ask, "Why had the contemporaries of the
Holy Prophet failed in their research and how have the opponents of
Islam succeeded in their attempt today after the passage of more
than a thousand years?"

(4) The
last and the most important question is: Does it not show that it is
bigotry and malice that has misled the opponents of Islam to discard
the possibility that the Qur'an may be a revealed book of Allah and
to concentrate all their efforts to prove that it is not so at all ?
The tact that its stories are similar to those contained in the
former books, could be considered equally in this light that the
Qur'an was a revealed book and was relating them in order to correct
those errors that had crept into them during the passage of time.
Why should their research be confined to prove that those books are
the real source of the stories of the Qur'an and not to consider the
other possibility that the Qur'an itself was a revealed book?

An
impartial person who will consider these questions will inevitably
arrive at the conclusion that the "research" which the
orientalists have presented in the name of "knowledge" is
not worth any serious consideration.

58That
is, "The same was the sign of the place of our destination".
This shows that Prophet Moses had taken this journey at Allah's
behest to meet His Servant. He had been told that he would meet the
Servant at the place where the fish would disappear.

59The
name of this Servant has been stated to be “Khidr” in
all the authentic books of traditions. Thus there is no reason why
it should be considered at all that his name was Elijah, as some
people have asserted under the influence of the Israelite
traditions. Their assertion is incorrect not only because it
contradicts the assertion of the Holy Prophet but it is also absurd
because Prophet Elijah was born several hundred years after Prophet
Moses. Though the Qur'an does not mention the name of the attendant
of Prophet Moses, according to some traditions he was Joshua, the
son of Nun, who succeeded him.

60In
connection with this story, a very hard problem arises to which an
answer must be found: Two of the three things done by Hadrat Khidr
are obviously against those commandments of the Law which have
always been in force since the creation of man. No law allows anyone
the right to damage the property of another and kill an innocent
person. So much so that if a man were to know by inspiration that
some usurper would illegally seize a certain boat, and that a
certain boy would be involved in a rebellion and unbelief, even then
no law, sent down by Allah, makes it lawful that one should bore a
hole in the boat and kill the innocent boy by virtue of one's
inspiration. If in answer to this, one were to say that Hadrat Khidr
committed these two acts by the Commands of Allah, this does not
solve the problem, for the question is not this, "By whose
command did Hadrat Khidr commit these acts"? but it is this:
"What was the nature of these commands"? This is important
because Hadrat Khidr did these acts in accordance with Divine
Command, for he himself says that these acts of his were not done by
his own authority, but were moved by the mercy of Allah, and Allah
Himself has testified this by saying: "We gave him a special
knowledge from Ourselves". Thus it is beyond any doubt that
these acts were done by the Command of Allah, but the question about
the nature of the command remains there, for it is obvious that
these commands were not legal because it is not allowed by any
Divine Law, and the fundamental principles of the Qur'an also do not
allow that a person should kill another person without any proof of
his guilt. Therefore we shall have to admit that these commands
belonged to one of those decrees of Allah in accordance with which
one sick person recovers, while another dies: one becomes prosperous
and the other is ruined. If the Commands given to Hadrat Khidr were
of this nature, then one must come to the conclusion that Hadrat
Khidr was an angel (or some other kind of Allah's creation) who is
not bound by the Divine Law prescribed for human beings, for such
commands as have no legal aspect, can be addressed to angels only.
This is because the question of the lawful or the unlawful cannot
arise about them: they obey the Commands of Allah without having any
personal power. In contrast to them, a man shall be guilty of a sin
whether he does any such thing inadvertently by intuition or by some
inspiration, if his act goes against some Divine Commandment. This
is because a man is bound to abide by Divine Commandments as a man,
and there is no room whatsoever in the Divine Law that an act may
become lawful for a man merely because he had received an
instruction by inspiration and had been informed in a secret way of
the wisdom of that unlawful act.

The
above-mentioned principle has been unanimously accepted by scholars
of the Divine Law and the leaders of Sufism. `Allamah Alusi has
cited in detail the sayings of 'Abdul Wahhab Shi`irani, Muhy-ud-Din
ibn-`Arabi, Mujaddid Alf Thani, Shaikh 'Abdul-Qadir Jilani, Junaid
Baghdadi, Sirri Saqti, Abul-Hussain An-nuri, Abu Said-al-Kharraz,
Ahmad ud-Dainauri and Imam Ghazzali to this effect that it is not
lawful even for a sufi to act in accordance with that inspiration of
his own which goes against a fundamental of law. (Ruh-ul-Ma ani,
Vol. XVI, pp. 16-18). That is why we have come to the conclusion
that Hadrat Khidr must be an angel, or some other kind of Allah's
creation, exempted from human law, for he could not be the only
exception to the above-mentioned formula. Therefore we inevitably
come to the conclusion that he was one of those Servants of Allah
who act in accordance with the will of Allah and not in accordance
with the Divine Law prescribed for human beings.

We would
have accepted the theory that Hadrat Khidr was a human being, if the
Qur'an had plainly asserted that the "servant" to whom
Prophet Moses was sent for training, was a man, but the Qur'an does
not specifically say that he was a human being but says that he was
“one of Our Servants” which does not show that he was
necessarily a human being. Besides this, there is no Tradition which
specifically says that Hadrat Khidr was a human being. In the
authentic traditions related by Said bin Jubair, Ibn `Abbas, Ubayy
bin Ka`ab from the Holy Prophet, the Arabic word, ,}i~ (rajul) has
been used for Hadrat Khidr, which though generally used for human
beings, is not exclusively used for human beings. In the Holy Qur'an
itself, this word has been used for Jinns also (LXXIII 6). It is
also obvious that when a jinn or an angel or an invisible being will
come before a human being, he will surely come in human shape and,
in that form; he will be called a bashar (man), just like the angel
who came before Mary in the shape of a human being (XIX: 17). Thus
the word rajul, used for Hadrat Khidr in the above mentioned
Tradition by the Holy Prophet, does not necessarily mean that he was
a human being. Therefore we are quite justified in the light of the
above discussion to believe that Hadrat Khidr was one of the angels
or some other kind of Allah's creation who is not bound by the
Divine Law prescribed for human beings. Some of the former scholars
of the Qur'an have also expressed the same opinion which . has been
cited by lbn Kathir in his Commentary on the authority of Mawardi.

61It
is quite obvious that the conjunction "wao " joins this
story with the previous story of Khidr. Thus it is a self-evident
proof that the previous two stories of the "Sleepers of the
Cave" and "Moses and Khidr" were also related in
answer to the queries of the disbelievers of Makkah who, in
consultation with the people of the Book, had put these questions to
Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) as a test of his Prophethood.

62The
identification of Zul-Qarnain has been a controversial matter from
the earliest times. in general the commentators have been of the
opinion that he was Alexander the Great but the characteristics of
Zul-Qarnain described in the Qur'an are not applicable to him.
However, now the commentators are inclined to believe that
Zul-Qarnain was Cyrus, an ancient king of Iran. We are also of the
opinion that probably Zul-Qarnain was Cyrus, but the historical
facts, which have come to light up to this time, are not sufficient
to make any categorical assertion.

Now let
us consider the characteristics of Zul-Qarnain in the light of his
story as given in the Quran:

(1) The
title Zul-Qarnain ("The Two-Horned") should have been
quite familiar to the Jews, for it was at their instigation that the
disbelievers of Makkah put this question to the Holy Prophet.
Therefore we must turn to the Jewish literature in order to learn
who was the person known as "The Two-Horned" or which was
the kingdom known as "The Two-Horned."

(2)
Zul-Qarnain must have been a great ruler and a great conqueror whose
conquests might have spread from the East to the West and on the
third side to the North or to the South. Before the revelation of
the Qur'an there had been several persons, who were such great
conquerors. So we must confine our research for the other
characteristics of Zul-Qarnain to one of these persons.

(3) This
title should be applicable to such a ruler who might have
constructed a strong wall across a mountain pass to protect his
kingdom from the incursions of Gog and Magog. In order to
investigate this thing, we will have to determine as to who were Gog
and Magog. We will also have to find out when such a wall was built
and by whom and to which territory it was adjacent.

(4)
Besides possessing the above-mentioned characteristics, he should
also be a God-worshiper and a just ruler, for the Qur'an has brought
into prominence these characteristics more than anything else.

The first
of these characteristics is easily applicable to Cyrus, for
according to the Bible Prophet Daniel saw in his vision that the
united kingdom of Media and Persia was like a two-horned ram before
the rise of the Greeks. (Dan. 8: 3,"20). The Jews had a very
high opinion of "The Two-horned" one, because it was his
invasion which brought about the downfall of the kingdom of Babylon
and the liberation of the Israelites (Please also refer to E.N. 8 of
Chapter XVII).

The
second characteristic is applicable to him to a great extent but not
completely. Though his conquests spread to Syria and Asia Minor in
the West and to Bakhtar (Balkh) in the East, there is no trace of
any of his great expeditions to the North or to the South, whereas
the Qur'an makes an explicit mention of his third expedition.
Nevertheless, this third expedition is not wholly out of question
for history tells us that his kingdom extended to Caucasia in the
North. As regards Gog and Magog, it has been nearly established that
they were the wild tribes of Central Asia who were known by
different names: Tartars, Mongols, Huns and Scythians, who 'had been
making inroads on settled kingdoms and empires from very ancient
times. It is also known that strong bulwarks had been built in
southern regions of Caucasia, though it has not been as yet
historically established that these were built by Cyrus.

As
regards the last characteristic, Cyrus is the only known conqueror
among the ancient rulers, to whom this may be applicable, for even
his enemies have been full of praise for him for his justice, and,
Ezra, a book of the Bible, asserts that he was a God-worshiper and a
God-fearing king who set free the Israelites because of his
God-worship, and ordered that the Temple of Solomon should be
rebuilt for the worship of Allah, Who has no partner.

In the
light of the above, we admit that of all the conquerors, who had
passed away before the revelation of the Qur'an, Cyrus alone is the
one to whom the characteristics of "Zul-Qarnain" are most
applicable, but we need more evidence to determine specifically that
Cyrus is definitely "Zul-Qarnain." Anyhow, there is no
other conqueror to whom the characteristics stated in the Qur'an are
as much applicable as to Cyrus.

Historically
it is enough to say that Cyrus was a Persian ruler, whose rise began
about 549 B.C. In a few years, he conquered the kingdom of Media and
Lydia and afterwards conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. After this no
powerful kingdom was left to oppose him. His conquests extended to
Sind and the territory known as Turkistan on one side, and to Egypt
and Libya and to Thrace and Macedonia and to Caucasia and Khawarzam
in the North. In fact, the whole civilized world was under his sway.

63"The
limit where the sun set" does not mean the "place" of
the setting of the sun. According to Ibn Kathir, it means that he
marched to the West conquering one country after the other till he
reached the last boundary of the land, beyond which there was ocean.

64"He
found the sun setting in black muddy waters of the sea": if Zul
Qarnain was Cyrus, then that place would be the western limit of
Asia Minor and the "black waters" would be the Aegean Sea.
This interpretation is supported by the use of the word
"`ain"instead of "bahr" in the Qur'an.

65"We
said to him" does not necessarily mean that Allah directly
revealed to him these words, and that Zul-Qarnain was a Prophet or
was the one who received inspiration from Allah, and the same is the
reasonable conjecture. This concerns the time when Zul-Qarnain had
taken possession of the land as a conqueror and the conquered people
were utterly at your mercy. Then Allah posed a question before his
conscience, as if to say, "Now is the time of your trial. These
people are utterly at your mercy, and you have the option either to
behave unjustly towards them or to treat them generously."

66That
is, “When he advanced towards the East, conquering one country
after the other, he reached a territory where the limits of the
civilized world had come to an end and beyond which was the
territory of barbaric people, who had no shelter at all of tents or
buildings.”

67The
"two mountains" must have been parts of that mountain
range which runs between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea (as
stated in v. 96). This must be so because beyond them was the
territory of Gog and Magog.

68That
is, "It was difficult to communicate with them: their language
was almost foreign to Zul-Qarnain and his companions, and, as they
were quite barbaric, none could understand their language, nor were
they acquainted with any foreign language."

69As
has already been pointed out in E.N. 62, Gog and Magog were the wild
tribes of North Eastern Asia which, from the very early times had
been making inroads on settled kingdoms and empires in Asia and
Europe and ravaging them. According to Genesis (Chapter 10), they
were the descendants of Japheth, the sort of Noah, and the Muslim
historians have also accepted this. And according to the book of
Ezekiel (Chapters 38, 39), they inhabited the territories of Meshech
(Moscow) and Tubal (Tubalsek). According to the Israelite historian
Josephus, they were the Scythians and their territory spread to the
north and the east of the Black Sea. According to Jerome, Magog
inhabited the territory to the north of Caucasia near the Caspian
Sea.

70That
is, "As a ruler it is my duty to protect you from the ravages
of your enemies: therefore it is not lawful for me to levy any extra
taxes on you for this purpose. The treasury that Allah has placed in
my custody, suffices for this purpose. You shall, however, have to
help me with your manual labor."

71That
is, "Though I have built a very strong iron-wall, as far as it
was possible for me, it is not ever-lasting, for it will last only
as long as Allah wills, and will fall down to pieces when the time
of my Lord's promise shall come. Then no power in the world shall be
able to keep it safe and secure."

As
regards the time of Allah's promise, it has two meanings: (1) It may
mean the time of the destruction of the wall, and (2) it may also
mean the time of the death and destruction of everything destined by
Allah at the end of the world i.e., the Hour of Resurrection.

Some
people have entertained the misunderstanding that the wall
attributed here to Zul-Qarnain refers to the famous Wall of China,
whereas this wall was built between Derbent and Dar'yal, two cities
of Daghestan in the Caucasus, the land that lies between the Black
Sea and the Caspian. There are high mountains between the Black Sea
and Dar'yal having deep gorges which cannot allow large armies to
pass through them. Between Derbent and Dar'yal, however, there are
no such mountains and the passes also are wide and passable. In
ancient times savage hordes from the north invaded and ravaged
southern lands through these passes and the Persian rulers who were
scared of them had to build a strong wall, 50 miles long, 29 feet
high and 10 feet wide, for fortification purposes, ruins of which
can still be seen. Though it has not yet been established
historically who built this wall in the beginning, the Muslim
historians and geographers assign it to ZulQarnain because its
remains correspond with the description of it given in the Qur'an.
Ibn Jarir Tabari and Ibn Kathir have recorded the event, and Yaqut
has mentioned it in his Mu jam-ul-Buldan that when after the
conquest of Azerbaijan, Hadrat `Umar sent Suraqah bin `Amr, in 22
A.H. on an expedition to Derbent, the latter appointed `Abdur Rehman
bin Rabi`ah as the chief of his vanguard. When 'Abdur Rehman entered
Armenia, the ruler Shehrbraz surrendered without fighting. Then when
`Abdur Rehman wanted to advance towards Derbent, Shehrbraz informed
him that he had already gathered full information about the wall
built by Zul-Qarnain, through a man, who could supply all the
necessary details and then the man was actually presented before
`Abdur Rehman. (Tabari, Vol. III, pp. 235-239; AI-Bidayah
wan-Nihayah, Vol. VII, pp. 122-125, and Mu jam-ul-Buldan, under
Bab-ul-Abwab: Derbent).

Two
hundred years later, the Abbasid Caliph Wathiq (227-233 A.H.)
despatched a party of 50 men under Sallam-ul-Tarjuman to study the
wall of Zul Qarnain, whose observations have been recorded in great
detail by Yaqut in Mu jam-ul-Buldan and by Ibn Kathir in AI-Bidayah.
They write that this expedition reached Samarrah from where they
reached Tiflis (the present Tbilisi) and then through As-Sarir and
Al-Lan, they reached Filanshah, from where they entered the Caspian
territory. From there they arrived at Derbent and saw the wall.
(AIBidayah Vol. II, p. 111, Vol. VII, pp. 122-125; Mu jam-ul-Buldan:
under Bab-ulAbwab). This clearly shows that even up till the third
century of Hijrah the Muslim scholars regarded this wall of the
Caucasus as the wall of Zul-Qarnain.

Yaqut in
his Mu jam-ul-Buldan has further confirmed the same view at a number
of places. For instance, under Khazar (Caspian) he writes:

"This
territory belongs to the Turks, which adjoins the Wall of Zul
Qarnain just behind Bab-ul-Abwab, which is also called Derbent."
In the same connection, he records a report by Ahmad bin Fadlan, the
ambassador of Caliph Al-Muqtadar-billah, who has given a full
description of the Caspian land, saying that Caspian is the name of
a country whose capital is Itil (near the present Astrakhan) right
through which flows River Itil, which joins the Caspian front Russia
and Bulghar.

Regarding
Bab-ul-Abwab he says that this city is called both Al-Bab and
Derbent, which is a highly difficult passage for the people coming
from the northern lands towards the south. Once this territory was a
part of the kingdom of Nausherwan, and the Persian rulers paid
particular attention to strengthening their frontiers on that side.

72Here
the story of Zul-Qarnain comes to an end. Though this story has been
related in answer to the questions put by the disbelievers of Makkah
as a test along with the stories of the "Sleepers of the Cave"
and "Moses and Khidr", the Qur'an has utilized this story,
too, for its own aim and object, as if to say, “Zul Qarnain,
about whose glory you have heard from the people of the Book, was
not merely a conqueror, but also a believer of the doctrines of
Tauhid and the life after-death and acted upon the principles of
justice and generosity. He was not a mean person like you who have
been puffed up by the possession of petty estates, and give
yourselves airs of superiority.”

73"On
that Day": "The Day of Resurrection". As if to
continue the theme of life-after-death to which Zul-Qarnain referred
as the "time of my Lord's promise", the Qur'an has added
verses 99-101 to it.

74This
is the conclusion of the whole Surah and is not connected with the
story of Zul-Qarnain only but with the subject-matter of this Surah
as a whole. That theme was enunciated at the beginning of the Surah
(1-8): The Holy Prophet invited his people (1) to give up shirk and
adopt the doctrine of Tauhid instead, (2) to give up the worship of
the world and to believe in the life of the Hereafter. But the
chiefs of his people, who were puffed up with their wealth and
grandeur, not only rejected his invitation but also persecuted and
insulted those righteous people who had accepted his invitation. The
discourse deals with the Same themes and utilizes in an excellent
manner the. three stories which were related in answer to the
questions put by the opponents of Islam as a test of his
Prophethood.

75That
is, "Do they still stick to their presumption even after
hearing all this, and believe that their attitude will be profitable
for them?"

76This
verse has two meanings. The one is the same that we have adopted in
the translation. The other meaning is this: "...those who
confined all their endeavors to the worldly life". That is,
whatever they did, they did for this world without paying any regard
to God and the Hereafter. As they considered the worldly life to be
the real life, they made the success and prosperity in this world
their sole aim and object. Even if they professed the existence of
Allah, they never paid any heed to the two implications of this
profession: to lead their lives in a way to please Allah and to come
out successful on the Day they shall have to render an account of
what they did in this world. This was because they considered
themselves to be mere rational animals who were absolutely
independent and free from every kind of responsibility and had
nothing else to do but to enjoy the good things of the world like
animals in a meadow.

77"All
their deeds were lost" in the sense that they will be of no
avail to them in the life-after-death, even though they might have
considered them as their great achievements but the fact is that
they will lose all their value as soon as the world shall come to an
end. When they will go before their Lord, and all their deeds shall
be placed in the Scales, they will have no weight at all whether
they had built great palaces, established great universities and
libraries, set up great factories and laboratories, constructed
highways and railways, in short, all their inventions, industries,
sciences and arts and other things of which they were very proud in
this world, will lose their weights in the Scales. The only thing
which will have weight there will be that which had been done in
accordance with the Divine instructions and with the intention to
please Allah. It is, therefore, obvious that if all of one's
endeavors were confined to the worldly things and the achievement of
worldly desires whose results one would see in this world, one
should not reasonably expect to see their results in the Hereafter,
for they would have gone waste with the end of this world. It is
equally obvious, that only the deeds of the one, who performed them
strictly in accordance with His instructions to win His approval
with a view to avail of their results in the Hereafter, will find
that his deeds had weight in the Scales. On the contrary, such a one
will find that all his endeavors in the world had gone waste.

78"...they
will never desire to go anywhere (else)," because they will
find no place and no condition better than those in Paradise.

79By
"Words" are meant "the marvelous works, the
excellences and the wonders of His Power and Wisdom.”